Indian Student’s Massive Visa Fraud Scheme Is No Laughing Matter
If a random slacker can pull off this scam, terrorists and the Chinese government can, too
By Andrew R. Arthur on July 11, 2024
On June 25, the local NBC affiliate in Philadelphia published an article headlined “Former Lehigh University Freshman faked his father's death for full scholarship, officials say”. There’s something comical in such duplicity, and in fact, 19-year-old Indian national Aryan Anand did apparently fake a death certificate for his father to receive a scholarship at the prestigious university, but that was neither the beginning nor the end of his fraud scheme. This case highlights key vulnerabilities in a student visa system that came under heavy scrutiny even before it was exploited by one (or more, depending how you look at it) of the hijackers in the September 11th attacks — vulnerabilities that still remain and that could be easily exploited by those who seek to harm our country and its institutions.
The Student Visa Process, in Brief. Nonimmigrant foreign students in the United States generally enter under one of two visa categories, known as “F-1” and “M-1”, for their respective authorizing subparagraphs in section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
An F-1 visa allows a nonimmigrant alien "to enter the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program”. To be an F-1 nonimmigrant, an alien “must be enrolled in a program or course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate”.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Indian-Students-Massive-Visa-Fraud-Scheme-No-Laughing-Matter
